


Clipped Wings

by FandomGuardian12



Category: Lucifer (TV)
Genre: Angel Wings, Angst, Blood, Heavy Angst, Lucifer wants his wings cut off, Maze doesn't understand why she cares, Maze takes care of Lucifer, Rebellion, set before the show
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-14
Updated: 2019-05-14
Packaged: 2020-03-05 13:39:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,847
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18829771
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FandomGuardian12/pseuds/FandomGuardian12
Summary: After the Fall and his arrival in Los Angeles, Lucifer makes Mazikeen cut off his wings in one final act of rebellion against his Father. Maze obeys, but doesn't understand why it makes her feel so horrible.





	Clipped Wings

     As a demon of Hell, Mazikeen did not find beauty in much of anything other than pain. And even then. But somehow, she could undeniably recognize the pure, divine elegance of angel wings. 

     Especially Lucifer's. 

     Maze did not quite understand it; they simply marked him as one of those annoying feathered geeks who abandoned him in the first place, right? But they glowed with a beautiful white light that even the most hardened demon could not ignore. It made her feel warm and safe. 

     That was why Maze almost did not want to believe what he had just asked her to do. It felt so wrong to even think about, and her immediate reaction was to step away from him. 

     "What?" she sputtered dully. 

     Lucifer frowned. She was usually so attentive, and he loathed having to repeat himself. "You heard me, Maze. I want you to cut my wings off." 

     The demon stared, conflict flashing in her dark eyes. "No," she stated flatly after an uncomfortable beat of silence. 

     "Maze..." Menace crept into Lucifer's tone, and his eyes flickered ever so slightly with red. "That wasn't a question, it was an order. Do as you're told." 

     Maze considered objecting again, ready to face whatever punishment he had planned. But it felt so wrong when she finally dropped the hesitation and nodded. The Devil looked so certain, which probably made it worse.  _The wings are a gift from God,_ she thought hopelessly.  _He hates his Father so much, but how can he be sure he won't regret this decision later?_

    "Please." Lucifer's soft voice made the demon jerk her head up in surprise. His expression was calmer now as he looked back at her, tired and imploring. 

     Swallowing hard, Maze followed him over to the flat stretch of sand. His posture was rigid as he slowly spread his wings and knelt. Absurdly, Maze felt tears spring into her eyes when she drew her krambit blade. 

     Lucifer's wings were too beautiful in that moment, making the demon want to stop before she had even started. The perfect, snowy white feathers cast an ethereal glow against the darkening sky.  _These wings provided the only light in Hell. What will happen to that light now?_ Maze forced herself not to dwell on the only possible answer to that question. 

     Steeling her nerve, she raised her blade over the Devil's wings. Then, before she could change her mind again, she swung it down. 

     The blow was almost badly aimed, but sank shakily into the flesh of the right wing. Lucifer only barely managed to bite back a yelp, his back spasming. Blood sprang up from the cut the knife had made, deep and red. 

      _Get it over with,_ Maze told herself harshly, sensing the pain her master was trying so hard to hide. She pulled the blade out and brought it down again, hacking at the flesh as quickly as possible. Of course, an act so horrible would have no graceful way in which to complete it. 

     The pain was blinding, and every muscle in Lucifer's body was locked. It almost felt as though his lungs were constricting within his chest, involuntarily suffocating him. Despite this, he forced a venomous smile and glowered up at the sky.  _Take that, Father._

     The pain meant he was winning. 

     Lucifer tried to keep telling himself that as the last bits of sinew snapped and his right wing fell away from his body. A soft thump in the sand behind him, and he could hear Maze's breath shudder in his ear for just a second. The Devil spoke nothing of it; he did not have the energy to threaten her. 

     "Finish it," he rasped, suddenly aware that he was gripping at the sand with stiff, shaking fingers. 

     Maze gave no verbal reply, and Lucifer did not have time to stifle the howl of agony that ripped through his chest as the knife bit into his left wing. Screwing his eyes shut and dropping his head, he gave in to the agony. 

      _You've truly fallen now,_ a malicious little voice whispered in the back of his mind. 

     Lucifer jerked his head up to fix his eyes on the stars again. Pain was making him sickeningly hazy; had those words been his imagination or were they really spoken aloud? It horrified him to be so completely unsure. Doubt was not something he had ever truly experienced. Even more so, the momentary slip caused him great discomfort.

     The only bright side was that the abhorrent fear of abandonment thoroughly distracted him from the pain. Lucifer jumped out of his rigid trance as his left wing slid to the ground, limp and useless. Movement only made his back hurt more, but he bit down a cry as he twisted around to look. 

     Maze was slumped, staring blankly at the severed wings as though not quite registering their existence. Indeed, the beautiful light they gave off had faded noticeably, but it was still enough to see the tear tracks on the demon's face. 

     Lucifer followed her gaze and scowled weakly. He felt a troubling twinge in his chest and promptly looked away from the wings. "Mazikeen," he murmured after a long, cold moment. When she startled and met his eyes, he smiled slightly. "Thank you." His tone was strangely soft and genuine. "You've always been there for me, and I know you always will be. No matter what." 

     Maze swallowed and nodded. Glancing down at the wings once more, she asked, "You okay?"

     Lucifer was aware of his rumpled, slouched appearance, as well as the warm sensation of blood trickling down from between his shoulder blades. He sighed heavily. "I did not consider the cleanup." Rising stiffly, he jerked his chin passively at the ground. "Grab those," he added. "We need to get back to Lux."

     Maze blinked, confused. He wanted the wings off one moment and wanted to keep them in the next? "What?" She felt ridiculous, questioning him so much, but could not stop herself. 

     Lucifer rolled his eyes, gentleness vanishing quickly. "We can't just leave them here, can we, Maze? Amenadiel's already going to have a cow when he hears what I've done. No need to risk one of Dad's little mortal pets accidentally discovering divinity and incurring even more holy wrath upon myself. Now, come on." 

     For the second instance in so little time, Maze obeyed despite the doubt sitting heavy in her stomach. 

~~~~~~~~~~

     Lucifer drove them both all the way back to Lux, his white-knuckled grip on the steering wheel of the car being the only thing to betray the pain he still felt. He remained silent until they reached the penthouse, and then he disappeared into his bathroom. Maze gently set the wings on the balcony, pausing in a knelt position to examine them carefully. 

     "Maze?" Lucifer's came from back inside, sounding strained. 

     The demon stood and hurried to the bathroom, finding him standing stock still facing the large mirror. His hands had stopped, shaking, at the button of his suit jacket. 

     He met her gaze in the clean glass, eyes shining with pain. "I... I don't think I can do it by myself," he admitted timidly, face flushed. 

     If Maze had a heart, she was sure it would have broken for him in that moment. Before she could remember her hardened demon side she was standing beside him, pulling off the jacket as gently as possible. Even the most tender of touches made Lucifer wince, and she grimaced along with him. 

     Slowly, the dark vest hit the tile beside the jacket, and Maze was peeling off the bloodied white shirt. She swallowed a horrified gasp as the garment fell away to reveal the deep gashes over his shoulder blades. Lucifer let out a strangled noise, squeezing his eyes shut. 

     Shaking, Maze reached for a clean white towel. After running it under some warm water, she said, "I'll be as careful as possible, but you need to hold still." When he nodded his permission, she cautiously began to wipe away the blood. 

     It became a slow, agonizing process; the towel was soon too soaked and bloodied to be used, so Maze discarded it and took a new one. Lucifer held as still as he could, but hissed through his teeth whenever the cloth ran over the raw flesh of his back. 

     Six ruined towels littered the bathroom floor before Maze was finished. When at last she had patted Lucifer's back dry with a clean cloth, the demon dropped it and let out a heavy sigh. "They'll have to be thrown away," she told Lucifer ruefully. 

     "Burned," he corrected shortly, pushing himself up into a standing position. 

     Maze blinked but nodded agreeably. She followed him out into the main penthouse. "What about the wings?" she dared to ask.

     Lucifer, who had walked over to the bar and was in the process of pouring himself a drink, shrugged. Grimacing at the movement, he replied, "I don't care." 

     Maze sensed that that was not true, but she knew better than to push it. "Come back over here," she said, calmly changing the subject. "I need to bandage your back."

     The Devil obeyed, sitting on a bar stool as she dressed the wounds. 

     Maze found it odd that she could tend the gashes so well; this was typically the kind of damage that she herself would have inflicted. "They're gonna scar," she warned. 

     Lucifer did not respond, and stayed quiet until she had pressed the last bandage into place. He stood once more and disappeared into his room. 

     After a few minutes, Maze cautiously poked her head in the doorway to check on him. He was curled up in bed under the sheets, apparently fast asleep. Sighing faintly, she turned and left him alone. She still had one last thing to do. 

     Picking up one last towel, the demon moved out to the balcony and knelt beside Lucifer's ruined wings. With painstaking care, she washed dried blood off the soft, white feathers. It took her much longer; trying to preserve the structure of the feathers proved very time-consuming. 

     It was almost dawn before Maze was finally satisfied. Her back was aching and her fingers were stiff, but she was still gentle in spreading the wings over the couch. No matter what Lucifer said, she was going to protect these wings. 

     Sinking into the armchair, Maze still did not understand her obsession. The wings were a construct of God; by pure nature alone she should not be so intent on maintaining the existence of this bunch of feathers. The demon came to the conclusion that it was because the removal of the wings had hurt Lucifer. And besides that, they were a beautiful, physical  _part_ of him. 

     Maze knew Lucifer was feeling much more than he let on, as always. But there was nothing she had ever been able to do about that, and it made her heart ache. As she watched the sun rise, the demon at last accepted defeat, letting tears fall for the angel with no wings. 

**Author's Note:**

> I hope y'all enjoyed! I wanted to write something about how Lucifer felt cutting off his wings, and to give Maze more depth than she already has because I love them both.


End file.
